This invention relates to seats for infants and children that may be used in motor vehicles, aircraft, and watercraft. In particular, this invention relates to such seats that secure the infant or child for safety and are also adapted to float upright in the water.
This invention further relates to seating systems for infants and children that may be used in motor vehicles, aircraft, and watercraft. In particular, this invention relates to a seating system that includes the aforementioned floating seat, and a base adapted to accept the seat in such a way that the seat is laterally secured and vertically free.
Automotive safety seats are well-known in the art of protection of a child from injury in the event of an impact and are mandated by law. A child automotive safety seat generally includes a rigid bucket seat with various types of protective padding. An undercarriage connected to the bucket safety seat is secured to the motor vehicle by means of straps and quick release buckles connected to the surface of the vehicle. Other straps and quick release buckles connected to the bucket seat hold the child in the safety seat. Such motor vehicle safety seats accommodate a range of ages of young children.
Life preserving devices for infants and young children on water craft are considered by many experts in the field to be only marginally dependable. The smallest life preserver now approved by the U.S. Coast Guard for children over 20 to 22 lbs. is merely a smaller version of the adult life preserver with an extension of the preserver floatation material from the shoulder area to the head area. The purpose of the extension is to provide additional floatation protection for a small child""s head so as to keep it above the surface of the water and so protect the child from intake of water. Such a safety device is useful when the child is over 20 to 22 lbs. and can be placed in a standard automotive child safety seat, but an older (over 30 lbs.) or more active child is better cared for in a life jacket.
Complete protection of a child aboard a water craft, such as a motor boat or sail boat, as typical examples, would include both 1) protecting the child from being injured from shock during quick movements of the boat in the case of movements in rough water, and 2) protecting the child from the water in the event of an emergency where the child enters the water, Protection of an adult or a child from quick movements of the boat by various types of shock-absorbing seating devices on the boat including child safety seats are well-known.
Floatable safety seats for a child in a marine environment are known. In particular, such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,020 issued to Gainforth. The Gainforth buoyant child safety seat for boats, however, cannot be transferred to a motor vehicle for the reason that the bottom of the described safety seat is provided with ballast stands with ballast weights that prevent the safety seat from being placed upon and secured to the seat of a motor vehicle. Another floatable safety seat for a child is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,253 issued to Politte. The Politte infant safety flotation seat device cannot be used in a motor vehicle since it cannot be placed upon and secured to the seat of a motor vehicle primarily because of metal weights, or ballast, near the bottom of the safety seat. Child safety seats particularly intended for marine use have been described in prior art, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,648; 4,934,303; 5,119,754; and 5,309,881; but none of the latter describe floatation capability.
Protection of a child from injury during rough water conditions in a marine environment and protection of a child from injury in the event of an impact in a motor vehicle are similar enough that the same shock and cushion protection in accordance with mandated child motor vehicle safety seats will provide a child from sudden movement in a marine environment. Child safety seats for motor vehicles, however, are generally not provided with floatation material or ballast.
Child safety seats presently used for motor vehicles have support structures for the bucket seats and bases for the seats. One type of support structure is a metal frame that includes bars made of a strong metal such as steel that can be hollow tubular bars known in the art of metal structures. My U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/167,468 entitled xe2x80x9cCar/Boat Floatation Seat for Infantsxe2x80x9d described a child safety seat that is made of such a support structure.
Another type of support structure for child safety seats for motor vehicles that is currently being marketed is made from a strong rigid molded plastic that meets the same safety requirements as metal support structures. The basic design structure of such molded plastic structures vary widely. For example, one such design includes the bucket seat and the support base that rests upon the car seat being integral and secured to the car seat by belt attachment devices between the car structure and the safety seat. Another basic design structure for molded plastic safety seats includes a child bucket seat that is removably secured to a base structure that is secured to the car structure by belt attachment devices so that the bucket seat can be unsnapped from the base structure removed therefrom. Child safety seats made of molded plastic material may not float in water, and may require more floatation material to achieve a high freeboard, which is that distance between the water level and the top of the sidewalls of the child safety seat.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a child safety seat that is usable both in an automotive environment and in a motor vehicle environment in accordance with mandated child automotive safety seat standards and in a marine environment for shock protection in both environments and for floatation protection of the child after entry into the water in the marine environment.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a quick release child safety seat for a motor vehicle as mandated by law that is also usable in a marine environment for protection of a child from shock during rough water encounters and for floatation protection of the child in case of an emergency entry into the water. The child safety seat is capable of floating out of the support base in response to a rising water level.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a safety seat for a child in a marine environment that protects the child from shock during encounters with rough water and also provides floatation protection for the child in the event of an emergency entry into the water, the safety seat also being easily transportable and mountable to a seat or surface of a motor vehicle so that it provides safety protection for the child in accordance with mandated law for child safety seats.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a child safety seat that is usable both in an automotive environment and in a motor vehicle environment in accordance with mandated child automotive safety seat standards and in a marine environment for shock protection in both environments and for floatation protection of the child after entry into the water in the marine environment, the child safety seat being of the type having a support frame made of molded plastic material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a child safety seat adapted to float in water such that a child secured in the safety seat is held completely or almost completely above the surface out of the water.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a child safety seat with a xe2x80x9cself-rightingxe2x80x9d capability such that the seat will turn top side up in water.
In accordance with these and other objects that will become apparent in the course of this disclosure, there is provided a floatable automotive/water craft child safety seat for holding a child weighing generally between birth and 30 or 40 pounds so that the child is protected from injury in the event of sudden movements in both an automotive environment and a marine environment. The floatable child safety seat remains afloat in the water in the event of an emergency on board a water craft so that the head of the child remains above water level. The floatable child safety seat includes a safety seat that meets automotive code requirements for protecting children. The floatable child safety seat includes a support frame holding the safety seat in a generally upright position. The frame also defines a planar surface that is compatible with placing the floatable child safety seat either on the surface of a seat of a motor vehicle or on the surface of a water craft. A floatation structure is secured to the child safety seat so that the child is maintained afloat in water so that the head of the child is positioned above water level. The support frame acts as ballast for maintaining the child safety seat upright in water.
In addition to the steel frame type of child safety seat described in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/167,468, the current molded plastic seat devices that meet the safety standards for infant and child safety seats in motor vehicles are set forth and described herein. Molded plastic seats have a marked advantage over steel frame type safety seats in relation to floatation features in that the plastic is much lighter than steel and in fact in themselves merely submerge in water rather than sink. For this reason, the amount of floatation material that is needed to maintain a molded plastic child safety seat in a floating situation when in water may be much reduced from the floatation material required to maintain a steel frame type safety seat floating in water depending upon the desired amount of freeboard. Specifically, the inventive features that enable child safety seats that meet mandated safety requirements for motor vehicles to be secured to the deck of a boat or other water craft and that remains afloat in the water in the event of an emergency so that the head of the child remains above water level differ from the features described in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/167,468. For example, surfaces are available on the molded plastic child safety seats for placement of floatation material that are not available on metal framed child safety seats.
One embodiment of the present invention set forth herein includes a molded plastic safety seat of the type having a bucket seat unitary with a base structure. Another embodiment of the present invention set forth herein includes such a molded plastic safety seat of the type having a bucket seat that can be detached from the base structure. A large number of various designs of automotive child safety seats are presently being marketed. The two embodiments child molded plastic safety seats described herein are set forth as being merely representative of many designs of child molded plastic car safety seats that can be adapted so as to function as car/boat child floatation seats that meet the legal standards for both automotive and marine environments, so that the inventive features of the present invention described herein can be likewise used for any other type of molded plastic child safety seat.
In addition, the present invention is also intended to meet the requirements for child safety seats for air travel, both for on board flight safety and as floatation devices.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a child safety seat and a child safety seat system that are adapted for use in automobiles, watercraft, and/or aircraft. The child safety seat is adapted to float in water such that a child secured in the safety seat is held completely or almost completely above the surface of the water. The child safety seat has a xe2x80x9cself-rightingxe2x80x9d capability such that the seat will turn top-side up in water. The child safety seat has a handle that is integral to the self-righting capability of the child safety seat. In addition, the child safety seat system includes a support base for use in a watercraft that is adapted to secure the child safety seat such that the child safety seat cannot be shifted horizontally, but can be moved vertically. Another support base is also provided with a releasable locking assembly for use in an automobile.
The present invention will be better understood and the objects and important features, other than those specifically set forth above, will become apparent when consideration is given to the following details and description, which when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, describes, illustrates, and shows preferred embodiments or modifications of the present invention and what is presently considered and believed to be the best mode of practice in the principles thereof.
Other embodiments or modifications may be suggested to those having the benefit of the teachings therein, and such other embodiments or modifications are intended to be reserved especially as they fall within the scope and spirit of the subjoined claims.